Frequently Asked Questions:
How Do I Book Studio Sessions or Record Cleaning?
To book Studio Sessions or record cleaning either use the contact us page, or ring us direct on 07771553552. Sometimes we cannot answer the phone, so if you are unable to reach us please use the Contact Us page and leave your number and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
How Should I Prepare My Audio Before I Upload?
*ALWAYS PUT THE BIT DEPTH & SAMPLE RATE IN THE FILENAME*
*IF SENDING AN UPDATED VERSION ALWAYS SEQUENCE NUMBER THEM, e.g. PUT “v2” then “v3” etc AT THE END OF EACH UPDATED FILE FILENAME*
There are a few other considerations you should be aware of:
Phase
Make sure the low end is not out of phase in your stereo file. Why? Because out of phase low end will not sound good out of a large sound system with phase cancellation will destroy your low end power, it will also not translate well to vinyl. In fact, it can actually cause the groove to travel vertically upwards and off the record thus leaving a “land” gap in the groove causing any playback stylus to jump.
How do you check? Use a Phase Correlation Meter plugin and make sure the reading has no major negative swings, Preferably staying positive, above Zero without a negative value. These can be found on many plugins including Izotope Ozone, or maybe your DAW’s stock plugins. Sound on Sound Magazine wrote an excellent article on using these visual mixing aids, you can read it HERE
We could mono sum the sub-bass for you, however, if the bass is wildly out of phase, summing will likely cancel out many of the bass frequencies. If you have this problem, and no way of rectifying it, We may have another solution that requires a bit of work, Please contact us to discuss.
Don’t understand Phase? Theres a great article HERE
Limiting
Where possible, please do not heavily limit your music prior to Mastering or Vinyl Cutting. You can make your digital master as loud as you like but this will have no bearing on how loud the record is cut. In fact, heavily limited music will actually have to be cut quieter as the cutting engineer will have to lower the level to be able to cut effectively.
We recommend not submitting masters for Vinyl with less than 8dB dynamic range, if you have even more dynamic range this can actually sound better once the record is cut. With regard to Mastering, to get the best results & biggest improvements from your pre-master, its better to have transients intact. If the transients have already been heavily squared off, it will reduce to effectiveness possible when processing masters.
Not sure what Dynamic Range is or its importance? Watch an easy to understand video on loudness wars HERE
And another great instructional video HERE
Mastering
If providing a file for us to master please leave at least 0.1dB headroom. This means a peak level of -0.1dBFS on your audio file. In an ideal world you would leave more like 3dB or 6dB of headroom, but with the nature of modern recording platforms we can just lower the level within our software, the most important thing is the waveforms are NOT squared off. Leaving enough transient information intact is the main factor to gain the best results from mastering, this is why we ask you to leave all master bus limiting OFF. However, we encourage you to provide a copy of your version with compression & limiting as this can give valuable insight into your vision for the track.
*IF SENDING AN UPDATED VERSION ALWAYS SEQUENCE NUMBER THEM, e.g. PUT “v2” then “v3” etc AT THE END OF EACH UPDATED FILE FILENAME*
*ALWAYS PUT THE BIT DEPTH & SAMPLE RATE IN THE FILENAME*
Not sure what Mastering is? Read this excellent article by Izotope HERE
Stem Mastering
Stem Mastering is for when you feel your track needs a little more than just mastering. Maybe you work in a room with less than ideal acoustics, less than ideal monitoring, or maybe you are struggling with, or are unsure of some elements in your mix.
Stem mastering allows for much greater access & control over a track. It is NOT for those who are confident & happy with their current mix. If you are confident of your mix then standard mastering is far more appropriate, But if you have got your mix as good as you can get it, but feel it needs that little extra to make it sound right then stem mastering could be a good choice.
Technical File Specs
We recommend sending your files to us in the same resolution they were recorded or created in. Whilst we always prefer the highest resolution possible, it is worth noting there is no sound quality benefit to upscaling lower res files, it will only serve to make the file size larger
We accept:
24bit 96k Wav / Aiff
24bit 48k Wav / Aiff
24bit 44.1k Wav / Aiff
16bit 96k Wav / Aiff
16bit 48k Wav / Aiff
16bit 44.1k Wav / Aiff
We have our own online uploader service hosted by wetransfer HERE. But can also accept DAT / CD / DVD via the post.
(Other Codecs can be accepted if you do not have the files in either Wav or Aiff. However, although we can cut from mp3 and other lossy formats, we advise against it wherever possible as the final product will undoubtedly be compromised)
How Do I Upload My Files?
Just use our simple uploading service HERE But remember, don’t just upload your files. Make sure you include your order number, track titles & also track order if purchasing an E.P or L.P.
How Can I Pay?
Paypal, World Pay or Bank Transfer.
You do not need an account to use Paypal or World Pay methods. They both offer the buyer to the chance to just enter their card details. If do not have a card or Paypal account you can use, we do accept bank transfers. Please Contact Us HERE to arrange your order via bank transfer.
How Long Does It Take To Receive My Order?
– Dubplate 7-28 days
– Dubplate with printed centre labels 7-28 days
– Dubplate with printed sleeves 14-35 days
– Centre Labels Only 1-5 days
– Mastering 3-7 days (email delivery)
– Stem Mastering 3-14 days (email delivery)
Often we are able to complete orders sooner, sometimes we can even cut the same day and send the day after, but during particularly busy periods we reserve the right to take a little longer if necessary. If you are in a rush, please Contact Us HERE prior to purchase to check turnaround times
What size Dubplate should I choose?
We have listed some approximate ball park figures below of what our lathe achieves per side :
7” single @45rpm 3mins 30secs
10” single @45rpm 6mins 00secs
12” single @45rpm 9mins 00 secs
We always recommend 12″ plates where you have the choice.
Is there a difference in Quality Between Different Sizes of Dubplate?
The only difference is the standard phenomenon with all vinyl records. As the groove gets closer to the centre of the record, the groove length per cycle of the record gets shorter and shorter, meaning the audio information has to be compacted into less space.
Therefore a 12” disc will sound best during the first few inches, and will slowly display a high frequency roll off as the groove approaches the centre of the disc. For this reason we recommend cutting to 12”.
How Many Plays Do They Last?
Our dub plates, are known to show no signs of wear after 1000’s of plays. The PVC blanks we cut into are much harder than traditional dub plates that slowly wear away with each play.
I Have Another Question That Is Not Answered On This FAQ
Please feel free to email us at info@eadubs.co.uk, Use the contact form to Contact Us HERE or call us on 07771553552 and we’ll be happy to discuss your query.